Hotels and similar establishments operate in a relatively competitive business environment. As such, they always strive to obtain some leverage over their competitors. Other than utilizing competitive pricing structures, some establishments have chosen to offer various amenities as an attraction. These amenities can be in the form of free movies, in-room refreshment centers, vibrating beds, etc. However, one disadvantage to these types of systems is that, at present, most establishments control the billing for these amenities, and, therefore, they are required to maintain appropriate equipment on site or at some central location. For example, one amenity that is offered by most hotel establishments is pay-per-view television. A customer typically will call the front desk in the hotel and request that a particular program be authorized for his in-room television. When the program comes on at the designated time, it can be received by a decoder box on the customer's TV. This will then appear on the customer's bill when he checks out. However, this can typically result in problems, in that the customer sometimes denies that he requested it and, therefore, it does not get billed. The hotel therefore loses some income and, also, the firm that provides the actual amenity in the form of the movies also loses revenue.
Alternatively, many hotels utilize pay-per-view television systems wherein movie selection and billing are controlled by a central distribution computer. Characteristically, the central distribution computer controls the devices that transmit the movie, typically video tape players or a video tape player controller. The central distribution computer also is connected to a device located with the television set in the customer's room, generally called a "room unit," that allows the customer to choose the programming viewed on the television set. The central distribution computer monitors and controls the input and output signals from the video tape players and the room units and is able to control when the video tape player plays the appropriate movie. The central distribution computer is able to store and transmit graphic screens that are utilized to explain to the customer how to use the pay-per-view movie service and list the program choices. In addition, graphic screens can be used for advertisement or promotional purposes. After the movie is selected and transmission has begun, the central distribution computer continues to monitor the room unit to determine if the consumer is to be billed for the service. Often, the first several minutes of the program are shown without any charge to the consumer. The central distribution computer also performs diagnostic functions. Generally, the transaction is printed by a printer connected to the central distribution computer and/or added to the room bill. However, pay-per-view television systems currently in use do not have an automated means by which customers can pay for the movie at the point-of-sale or separate from the room bill.
Many hotels and similar establishments have installed computerized property management systems. In such facilities, the central distribution computer is able to connect to the computerized property management system. If requested by the customer, the central distribution computer can retrieve the customer's information, including a record of expenses and check-out bill, format it as a screen, and transmit it to the television set. However, all hotels, especially larger ones, would like to give their customers additional options for inputting billing information. Smaller hotels often lack the sophisticated equipment to transmit the bill to the room or allow customers to pay for the bill from the room once the bill has been reviewed. In addition, their customers often pay for the room during check-in. Accordingly, the payment for amenities, such as movies, must be collected at the point-of-sale.
One type of system that has been utilized to provide an amenity, long distance telephone calling, utilizes a credit card reader at the phone that automatically validates a customer's credit card before allowing the phone call to go through. This validation is generally done off site, away from the establishment, but can be done on the premises by a separate business entity, and the billing is completely independent of the establishment. Therefore, the customer is allowed to make long distance phone calls with his credit card without having it billed to the room. The establishment, therefore, does not have to maintain the billing system nor does it have to process the credit card transactions in order to collect for these long distance telephone calls. Rather, a separate service does the validation and the billing, and, in some instances, provides some type of remuneration to the establishment in the form of a percentage of the profits.